Missing teen's family appeal for information

Teenager Belinda Peisley had received a big inheritance, attracting new people into her life before she disappeared from the NSW Blue Mountains, leaving behind two young sons, aged three and one.

The NSW government has today announced a $100,000 reward for information about the disappearance and presumed murder of the 19-year-old, who was last seen at her house on Trow Avenue, Katoomba, on September 26, 1998.

It is an unimaginably cruel situation for my grandsons who never really got to know their mum

Strike Force Belonidae was set up to investigate her disappearance and the case was reopened at the end of last year after one of the last people to see Ms Peisley came forward.

Missing since 1998 ... Belinda Peisley, pictured with her children.

The woman said she found the house, which Ms Peisley bought outright with her inheritance, ransacked.

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Police said they had identified several "persons of interest" in the case and had followed many lines of investigation, but now needed more help from the public.

"Our investigations have revealed that Belinda received a considerable inheritance prior to her death, and that, as a result she had many people frequenting her residence," acting Superintendent Robert Vellar, the Blue Mountains Area Commander, said in a statement this morning.

Reward .... $100,000 has been offered for information about the disappearance of Belinda Peisley.

"She had also developed a significant drug problem and had accumulated considerable debt.

"We believe she met with foul play but need more information from the public to put the pieces of the puzzle together and make a breakthrough."

At a press conference later, acting Superintendent Vellar said there were people who lived in, or frequently visited, Katoomba 13 years ago who knew what happened to Ms Peisley.

"This is an opportunity to come forward to clear their conscience."

He described her home in the Blue Mountains as a "halfway house" where a number of people were living at the time of her disappearance.

He said police had no reason to believe Ms Peisley was taken from her home.

"There was no evidence to suggest the place was ransacked or something like that ... she just vanished."

Ms Peisley's father, Mark Wearne, joined her sons and police in a public appeal for information today.

"It's been 13 years on September 26 just gone that she went missing," Mr Wearne said.

He said he sympathised with the father of Queensland boy Daniel Morcombe, who waited eight years for his son's remains to be found.

Daniel disappeared in 2003 and his remains were found in August this year.

"Good or bad, she was still the boys' mother; she was still my daughter," he said.

Cody Peisley, now 16, told reporters he no longer expected his mother to come home.

"Sometimes I thought that," he said. "But it just keeps going and eventually you work out it's not going to happen.

"I want to actually know what happened so I can at least try to move on."

Ms Peisley's younger son, Billy Moffett, 14, sat with his brother and father, Andrew Moffett, but did not speak during the press conference.

When the case reopened last year Mr Wearne said Ms Peisley's life was only just beginning when she went missing, the Blue Mountains Gazette reported.

"Of course we would like to hold out some hope but deep down the family has accepted that Belinda is gone," he said.

"But until we know for sure, this will continue to haunt her sons and the rest of my family.

"It is an unimaginably cruel situation for my grandsons who never really got to know their mum.

"For their sake I would ask anyone who knows what happened to Belinda to contact police and give this family a chance to lay things to rest and have some peace."

The reward is offered for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the presumed murder of Ms Peisley.